Below are some of the options trading strategies that you may consider.

Popular strategies to trade options include:

Bullish on volatility Bearish on volatility Selling Credit Spreads Bearish strategies Selling Covered Calls Bullish strategies Neutral or non-directional strategies Calendar Straddle Strangles

The above list is in no way an exhaustive list, there are plenty of other strategies that you may employ. The purpose of this article is to just give you a small taste of some of the possibilities. Below I expand on a few.

Selling Credit Spreads – If you are looking for a strategy that does not involve marrying your stock options career, then this is one you could consider. There is nothing worse than following a strategy that requires you to monitor the market for every minute of the trading day. You can complete what is involved with this strategy in around an hour a week and if done correctly you might be able to increase your portfolio by around 10-15 per cent monthly. They are great returns that really put to shame what the banks are offering. To execute this strategy you need to know how to carry out a trend analysis on the market. Of course the scope of this article does not allow me to cover this further. You are best advised to join the mailing list on this site.

Bullish Strategy – If you are expecting the underlying stock of an option to increase then you could go with this strategy. The Bullish options trading strategies are brought into play when you as the trader expects the underlying stock price to increase in value. You need to consider just how high the stock price is likely to go and within what time frame. The most likely strategy choice for a bullish trader is a simple call buying strategy. This is quite popular with beginners. Other bullish strategies include Covered Straddle, Bull Calendar Spread and The Collar.

Complex Strategies – These include such things as iron condors, butterflies, straddles and strangles. Just where do they come up with the names used in strategies for options trading? Strange aren’t they? The ones I have listed here if followed correctly are generally low risk while at the same time being highly likely to be profitable. The disadvantage is that they are expensive, either due to the fact that you are trading expensive options or thanks to high brokerage fees which come about due to the number of trades involved.

You should remember that options are quite versatile trading instruments. With such great flexibility this is where many people get it wrong. They think that the more complicated an option trading strategy is the more successful it can be. In fact it can be quite the opposite. The more complicated the strategy the more open you could be to risk while at the same time limiting profit potential.

As with any strategy you employ with your options trading business and treat it with respect. Don’t trade live until you have given it a good test using a practice account. Only then should you consider running with it using your real money.

When learning how to trade options it is always advisable to only use risk capital when trading with real money. This means only use money that you can afford to lose if you have trades that go against you. There you go that just touches the surface of options trading strategies. Of course you will want to learn more and then select a strategy to trade your options using a test account. From there who knows?

Always remember to not let things get out of hand. If you are learning a new strategy only trade with one contract at a time. If you go overboard you will soon find yourself out of control and headed towards disaster. Options trading is not a race. You have time on your side and you should make the most of it. The market will still be here tomorrow.

But where the does the long term investor fit in? Are there any option trading strategies that the conservative investor can employ to enhance his or her long term returns?

In fact, there are.

Leveraged Investing

There are actually a number of option trading strategies that can be employed by the long term investor. Leveraged Investing is the name I’ve given this approach, and these are the strategies I use myself.

The point of Leveraged Investing is to use options to acquire stock for a discount and then to generate additional returns above and beyond the actual performance of the stock itself.

Here are just two examples:

[Please note: in the interest of simplicity, commissions have been excluded from all examples.]

Example #1 – Writing Covered Calls. Writing covered calls is a popular, and generally conservative, income-producing strategy. A call option gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to purchase 100 shares of the underlying stock at a certain price (strike price) by a certain date (expiration date).

Conversely, when you write, or sell, a call option on shares that you own, you sell (you receive a premium in the form of cash) someone else the right to purchase your stock at a certain price at or prior to the expiration date. If you own 100 shares of a stock trading at $28/share, you could write a $30 covered call expiring in one month. If the stock closes above $30/share, you’ll be obligated to sell your shares for $30/share. But if the stock closes at or below $30/share, the call option will expire worthless and you’re free to repeat the process. Either way, the premium received is yours to keep.

Writing covered calls is a great way to generate additional income from your investments, but the long term investor must take extra precautions to avoid being called out and forced to sell his or her long term holdings (I call one such precaution, The 1/3 Covered Call Writing Strategy–it basically consists of writing covered calls on only a portion of your portfolio in order to give yourself greater flexibility and protection against sharp moves higher by the stock).

Example #2 – Writing Puts to Acquire Stock at a Discount. A put option, in contrast, gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to sell 100 shares of the underlying stock at a certain price by a certain date. When you write, or sell, a put, you’re essentially insuring someone else’s shares against a drop below the agreed upon strike price.

Like writing covered calls, writing puts can be a great source of income. In fact, the risk-reward profiles for writing puts and writing covered calls are essentially the same. Whereas call writers may write calls out of the money, at the money, or even in the money (the most conservative approach), put writers will typically write out of the money puts (e.g. writing a put with a $30 strike price on a stock currently trading at $32/share).

But for the long term investor, income is of less importance than the opportunity to buy a stock at a lower price that what it’s currently trading at. Writing an at the money put will greatly improve the likelihood of acquiring the stock, and you’ll also receive the most pure premium.

Example: Suppose you write an at the money put on a stock that you really like. If the stock is trading at $30/share and you write the put at the $30 strike price for, let’s say, $2.50 in premium (or $250 in cash since each option contract represents 100 shares of the underlying stock) you’re setting yourself up for a win-win situation. That’s not to say you can’t lose money on the deal, but look at the two possible scenarios.

Conclusion:

As they say, options involve risk and may not be suitable for everyone. But not all option trading strategies have to be high risk propositions. Some approaches, in fact, may offer substantial benefits for the conservative investor. If you are a long term investor, it may be worth your while to conduct additional research to see if there should be a place in your portfolio for options.

Termed as forex options trading, there are two ways to do this. First is the Single Payment Options Trading, also known as SPOT, and would require the buyer to predict and elaborate a scenario which could happen in the market; then he would get a premium quote for this. If the scenario happens or takes place as predicted, then he will receive a payout.

The other way of forex options, known as traditional options trading, is exactly similar to the stock options trading. This is a useful alternative as it carries a lesser burden of risk compared to other methods of trade. You will pay less money and risk only that in order to place yourself on a great advantage.

When you invest in Forex option trading, one of two things may happen. One – you will not receive even a single penny when the option expires out-of-the-money. Two – you will receive a 65-71% payout the option expires in-the-money. However, there are a few websites that offer a certain amount back even if the option expires out-of-the-money. If you carry out the option trading through such websites, you can expect to get at least 15% back even when things go wrong. How Are Currency Options Traded?

You can do Forex option trading in pairs, such as GBP/JPY, USD/EUR, and others. The first currency in the pair carry a value of 1 and it is referred to as the base currency. The second one is referred to as quote currency and its value keep changing, telling you how much amount (of the second currency) you will need to buy one unit of the base currency. For example, if the currency pair you are trading in is USD/INR = 48.5, it means you will need 48.5 Indian Rupee to purchase one US dollar. If the India Rupee becomes stronger, the value of the quote currency (i.e. US dollar) will decrease. Likewise, if the US dollar becomes stronger, you will need more Indian Rupee to buy one US dollar. Thus, your profit or loss will entirely depend upon the fluctuations in the currency rates. Overall, if you have a deep understanding of how currency loses and gain value in relation to one another, you can easily become a successful trader and make huge profits through Forex option trading. The more you educate yourself, the better are your chances of success.

An  option trading is a strategy that does not depend on the market direction; in  fact it does well in volatile markets. With options trading there are two  methods through which you can enter a long trade and short tern trade. While a  long fundamental trade can be entered either by buying a call or by selling a  put, a short underlying trade can be entered either by buying a put or by  selling a call.

In  short term options trading calculating risk reward is yet another important  point that trader need to well aware of. Calculating the risk reward can be  defined as the amount trader would risk if he or she were wrong and the amount  trader would make if he or she were right. If we don’t figure out this number,  the chances are more where we may find the stock that may go in favor but the  option goes against.

If  we compare long term and short term options trading, then both have their own  advantages. However, buying short term options can be very beneficial as it  gives more control. It very general that no one can exactly make prediction  very clearly when it comes to stock trading. It’s really hard to predict what  will happen to a stock 3 months down the road. Though sometimes it is easier to  predict which way the stock will be heading in just a few weeks as opposed to a  few months. Thus, selling short term options allow capture more premiums over a  longer time frame.

Apart  from this, it even works well and provides an excellent way for novice traders  to trade. This is because as the price movement is so fast and dynamic that  when things happen, beginners may not know what to do and be able to do it  quickly. Moreover, it is an enormously lively options trading method where  options are bought and sold very quickly in order to gain profit from the least  intraday price swing or change in volatility.

Today  certainly short term option trading has gained its world-wide popularity. It  has become extremely money-making method in the hands of options trading  veterans and new comers in current extremely volatile market conditions.

Options trading actually act as a best means to earn money. It is more like giving out cash in exchange for potential profit. You buy assets or things of value, with hopes of producing income in the end. It is available as either a Call or a Put, depending upon whether they give the right to buy, or the right to sell. The Call options give you the right as a holder to buy the underlying commodity, and Put options provide you the right to sell the underlying commodity. However, be it a call or put option, it can be bought or sold on registered exchanges. You deal with buyers and sellers of options/stocks, hoping to bring in more profits.

The best part about Options Trading is that you can have a better control on both the probability of risk and the consequence of risk. In stock trading, you cannot actually control the prospect of loss because you win only if the stock goes up. But option trading reduces the probability of danger as there are options strategies that profit when the stock goes up, down and sideways all at once. Besides this, it also reduces the consequence of risk through leverage.

Today, certainly the success in options trading is determined by price movements and investor’s attention to either volatile or commodity stocks. Proper control using bear market options trading strategies can certainly put extra cash in your pockets. Moreover, it can further give you the edge when the next bull market occurs.